Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.
… During the day, Dr. Reddy also met Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and urged him to start classes at the new Indian Institute of Technology in Medak from July 2008.
Though the complex is yet to be constructed, the Chief Minister’s contention was that land had been allotted and temporary structures could be put up in time for the next academic session.
The Chief Minister also sought an Indian Institute of Management for Andhra Pradesh at Vizag and an Indian Institute of Science Education and Research at Tirupati.
Besides, the State has asked the Centre to extend the mid-day meal scheme for students up to Class X and convert the Yogi Vemana University in Kadapa into a Central varsity.
Dr. Reddy also met Union Minister for Science & Technology Kapil Sibal and urged him to scan every tract of land in Andhra Pradesh so that the State Government could remain alert to possibilities of pests and diseases through weekly reports.
Also, the State Government has put in a request for setting up a National Institute of Animal Bio-Technology at Hyderabad.
November 4th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report by ibnlive.com on this.
… It was in 1910 that the first educational institute under public-private partnership was set up. Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore was a joint venture between the industrialist Jamsetji Tata and the government.
But in independent India, most of the investment in higher education has been done by the state.
In the India of the future, preference will be given to private-public partnerships to set up top institutes. This partnership will also be explored in the research facilities at the 30 proposed world class universities.
"One has to change the order and we have to change the organisational setup,” says Chairman of Knowledge Commission, Sam Pitroda.
This is a crucial decision. Within the Government itself, there has been tremendous opposition to the entry of private players in higher education.
But by throwing open the IITs and IIMs to private sponsors, the Government is finally breaking down resistance.
November 3rd, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report in Odisha.in.
A World class Institute of Entrepreneur Development would be set up in Bhubaneswar soon to help state’s existing and upcoming entrepreneurs.
"The proposed institute would help particularly the first generation entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurs in general to upgrade them technologically with industrial management and marketing in the face of competition and inherent sickness syndrome", Commissioner-Cum Secretary Industries, Asok Dalwai told Odisha.in.
"The Ahemedabad based Entrepreneur Development Institute has evinced interest to set up the institute of excellence in joint venture with the Orissa government and the detailed Project Report for the proposed advanced center would be finalised very soon". He said.
He said with the submission of the DPR; state government would allot ten Acres of land for the construction of the institute.
November 1st, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report in Zee News.
Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI) on Tuesday said it has proposed setting up of an aerospace university to the University Grants Commission (UGC).
"We have already given a proposal to UGC for establishment of an aerospace university," SIATI president C G Krishnadas Nair said on the sidelines of a helicopter technology conference here today.
The society has proposed to set up the university at Bangalore along with HAL.
He said SIATI is also in discussion with IGNOU for establishing International Institute for Aviation Studies and Management in different parts of the country.
October 30th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from Hindu on it.
Education Minister M.A. Baby said here on Saturday that the government would go ahead with the conversion of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) into an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).
Mr. Baby said the government would make all efforts to secure the Rs.519-crore allocation for the project.
He said the Union HRD Ministry accepted the State government’s request for reserving 50 per cent of the seats for students from Kerala at the IIEST.
The government would get a chance to nominate a person to the IIEST’s governing council.
October 28th, 2007
Following is the PIB release on that.
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up of two Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram, at a total cost of Rs. 1000 crores ( Rs. 500 crore per Institute).
Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram are the fourth and fifth in the chain of IISERs to be set up in the country by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The Government of India has decided to create the IISERs with the unique objective of integrating undergraduate education, postgraduate education and research under the same umbrella.
The basic idea of IISER is to create research universities of the highest caliber in which teaching and education will be totally integrated with the state of the art research. These universities will be devoted to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in sciences in an intellectually vibrant atmosphere of research. One of the important goals of creating these universities is to make education and careers in basic sciences more attractive by providing opportunities in integrative teaching and learning of sciences and breaking the barriers of traditional disciplines. One other significant concept of the proposed IISER is to actively forge strong relationship with existing universities and colleges and network with laboratories and institutions, in order to share and complement faculty resources as well as research, library and computational facilities.
The IISER shall have programmes of study called Schools in various interdisciplinary areas of Biological Sciences, Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences and Materials Sciences. Each Institute is expected to have about 2000 undergraduate students, postgraduate students and research scholars, and about 200 faculty members, across disciplines.
Our earlier article at https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=630 gives numbers related to NISER and some IITs.
October 25th, 2007
We mentioned this earlier in https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=746. Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Hindu. (New Indian Express also reports on this.)
In an effort to ensure spread of higher education avenues in an even manner, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has advised the HRD Ministry not to decide on locations of proposed establishment of new central universities and other elite institutions in the country till a mechanism was evolved for the purpose.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that the Ministry should await the finalization of the XI Plan before deciding on locations for the new central Universities, IITs, IIMs, IIITs and IISERs, the PMO said in a recent communication to the HRD Ministry.
"He (the Prime Minister) has also desired that the Ministry put in abeyance all further locational decisions till a formal mechanism is evolved for this purpose," it said.
The communication from the PMO was in response to a letter of HRD Minister Arjun Singh had written last month to the Prime Minister regarding establishment of these institutions.
October 23rd, 2007
Following is an excerpt on this from Business Standard. An earlier article on this appeared in Times of India.
The Uttar Pradesh government has started the process for setting up Manyawar Sri Kanshiram Uttar Pradesh Institute of Technology on the lines of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and an Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on the pattern of the prestigious Bangalore institute.
The Kanshiram institute is proposed to be set up in Lucknow while the IISc will be set up in Greater Noida. An eleven-member committee has been set up under the chairmanship of the chief secretary for the projects.
For the Kanshiram institute, the Lucknow Development Authority would provide 200 acres, while the Greater Noida Authority would give 200 acres for IISc. Both these institutes would be set up by the Rajkiya Nirman Nigam.
In a recent meeting presided over by Principal Secretary to the chief minister Shailesh Krishna, it was decided that the proposed institutes would be centres of excellence and set up under the Acts passed by the state legislatures.
With the help of TCS, Maharashtra has made a plan (3 MB file) to upgrade couple of its state engineering colleges to "IIT level." (See this 3 MB presentation for what is meant by "IIT level.") The initial colleges they have shortlisted for this are VJTI Mumbai, College of Engineering, Pune and Guru Govind Singh College of Engineering, Nanded.
Orissa should follow Maharashtra’s example and take a PPP approach to upgrade UCE Burla and CET Bhubaneswar to IIT level. (Orissa did initiate a plan to upgrade the Keonjhar School of Mines to the ISM level; but that plan has not progressed much.)
October 22nd, 2007
A Rajya Sabha report gives some idea about the funding for IIPHs. Following is an excerpt from that report.
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is a Public Private Partnership created for capacity building in Public Health Education, training and research. Considering the public health challenges that India faces, the demand for Public Health Professionals far exceeds the availability of adequately trained Public Health manpower. PHFI seeks to address this concern. Therefore, in the next 5-10 years, the PHFI would over the next 5-10 years help in creating around 2000 plus Public Health Professionals annually. This would be through establishment of world class Schools of Public Health (IIPH); strengthening of existing Schools of Public Health in the country. PHFI would also help establish standards in Public Health Education by enabling the formation of independent accreditation system.
The Government of India is contributing Rs. 65 Crore approximately one-third of the initial seed capital required for kick-starting the PHFI and for establishment of two Schools of Public Health. The remaining amount (approximately Rs.135 crore) is being raised from outside the Government, namely, Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation (Rs.65 cr.) and from high net-worth individuals. PHFI is managed by an independent Governing Board that includes 3 members from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfares viz. Secretary (H&FW); DG ICMR and DGHS. Shri T.K.A. Nair Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr. M.S. Ahluwalia, Vice Chairman, Planning Commission; Smt. Sujata Rao, AS&PD, NACO, Ministry of Health; Dr. Mashelkar, DG CSIR are also members of the Governing Board. The presence of the officials from Government would ensure that the decisions taken in PHFI are in consonance with the objectives for which PHFI has been supported by Government of India. It is expected that all members of the Governing Board would ensure the functioning of the Foundation as a professional organization and with complete transparency.
In the yahoo article http://in.news.yahoo.com/070628/48/6hhzm.html it is mentioned that the cost of IIPH in Gujarat is 140 crores of which the Gujarat government will contribute 25 crores.
October 21st, 2007
Following are extracts from the web pages of the Public Health Foundation of India (http://www.phfi.org/home.asp).
Background:
What is public health?
Public health has often been defined as a science dealing with the determinants and defense of health at the population level, while clinical medicine deals with multiple maladies and their remedies at the level of the individual patient.
Public health aims to elucidate and influence the social, cultural and economic determinants of health as well as to study and structure health systems as efficient channels for health services delivery. Public health thus is a discipline built on an academic tradition of inquiry involving research, teaching and professional practice to prevent disease and promote health in populations.
Why a foundation for public health?
As India experiences a rapid health transition, it is confronted both by an unfinished agenda of infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies and unsafe pregnancies as well as the challenge of escalating epidemics of non-communicable diseases. This composite threat to the nation’s health and development needs a concerted public health response that can ensure efficient delivery of cost-effective interventions for health promotion, disease prevention and affordable diagnostic and therapeutic health care.
These health challenges urgently require capacity building for health research, policy development and analysis, programme development and evaluation, health systems organization, models of health care financing and operationalized scientific research.Education and training in public health needs to be inter-disciplinary in content so that the pathways of public health action are multi-sectoral. Public health education must include subject areas like epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral sciences, health economics, health services management, environmental health, health inequities and human rights, gender and health, health communication, ethics of health care and research. The interventions proposed need to be evidence based, context specific and resource sensitive.
About Us:
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is a response to redress the limited institutional capacity in India for strengthening training, research and policy development in the area of Public Health. It is a public private partnership that was collaboratively evolved through consultations with multiple constituencies including Indian and international academia, state and central governments in India, multi & bi-lateral agencies and civil society groups in India.
The mission of PHFI is to benchmark quality standards for public health education; establish public health institutes of excellence based on these standards; to undertake meaningful public health research; and to advocate for public policy linked to broader public health goals.
…
Charter:
The PHFI is working towards building public health capacity in India by:
* Establishing 5 -7 new institutes of public health over the next 6 years;
* Assisting the growth of existing public health training institutions/departments and facilitating their evolution into major institutes of public health;
…
Career:
Directors: Indian Institutes of Public Health (Hyderabad, Delhi and Gandhinagar)
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is seeking three dynamic and enterprising public health experts as Directors of its upcoming Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPH) at Hyderabad, Delhi and Gandhinagar. The first IIPH is to come up by July 2008 and the other two will begin operations in 2009.
Following are excerpts from an yahoo article that gives an idea of the cost involved in making an IIPH.
THE Gujarat government has decided to set up an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) under the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) project, initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year.
This will churn out healthcare professionals and also to establish a strong national research network of public health, assisting in the growth of existing public health training institutions.
The State Cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, had cleared a proposal to allot 50 acres of government land for the Rs 140-crore IIPH at Chiloda near Gandhinagar. The institute has proposed a deemed university status.
An abridged version of an memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the PHFI and the state government had been signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January, 2006, for setting up of the institute.
The work on the institute is expected to begin in a month or so. When ready, the institute will offer degree courses, including a two-year master course in public health, one-year diploma in public health management and a three-year BSc course in public health.
For students from Gujarat, 10 per cent seats will be reserved for the Master Public Health (MPH) courses.
One-year diploma in public health (DPH) and other short-term courses will also be designed specifically for government servants and a subsidised fee structure for such candidates will be worked out.
… The official said the institute will also offer several short-term programmes in regard to in-service training in public health issues.
The setting up of the institute will certainly help the state in getting resource support and further strengthen health services for all sections of the population.
Of the estimated project cost of Rs 140 crore, Rs 80 crore will be used for construction, Rs 10 crore for learning resources and Rs 50 crore to cover operating deficit in the first 3 to 5 years.
Gujarat’s share will be Rs 25 crore, while the Public Health Foundation of India will provide the rest of the funds for the institute, the official added.
A newkerala.com article dated Sept 26th 2007 mentions that the fourth IIPH will be in Shillong, Meghalaya. A PIB release of last year mentions that there will be an IIPH in Mohali, Punjab. Hence, the five announced for IIPH will be in Hyderabad, Delhi and Gandhinagar, Shillong and Mohali.
October 21st, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.siasat.com/.
After Hyderabad, the National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) would commence operations at Ahmedabad, Hajipur (Bihar) and Kolkata this year, Arun Ramanathan, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Fertilizers, said.
NIPER at Hyderabad, the second in the country after Mohali in Haryana, was inaugurated on Friday on a sprawling 150 acres of the sick Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL).
Full-scale operations
Mr. Ramanathan told reporters after the inauguration that the four institutes would take up to two years to commence operations on a full scale. The establishment cost of each of the institutes would be Rs. 200 crore but it would be lesser here as the existing building of the R&D centre of IDPL was utilised for accommodation.
Answering a question, the Secretary also said the Centre was yet to identify a consultant to determine the roadmap for successful functioning of NIPERS in public-private partnership.
In the case of Hyderabad, there was no need of their presence in the initial stages as the State Government had donated the land and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) offered to be mentor organisation, providing its lab facilities and faculty, Mr. Ramanathan added.
Trained manpower
He also said the Centre decided to start six NIPERs in the country at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Hajipur, Kolkata, Guwahati and Rae Bareli during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. They planned to provide highly trained manpower for pharma industry which recorded the second highest growth rate after Information Technology. Manpower, however, was a major bottleneck for the pharma industry.
… The Hyderabad NIPER commenced its academic activity with an intake of 40 students in three post-graduate courses.
A joint counseling of four of the new NIPERs, that were initially mentioned in 2006, is at http://www.niper.gov.in/distbu_seats.htm. Earlier this year Guwahati and Rae Bareli got added to the list.
October 21st, 2007
Our earlier report https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=746 supports this to some extent. Following is from an article in merinews.com written by Ashok K. Jha.
This government, …, had constituted a knowledge commission under Sam Pitroda who, encouraged by Rajiv Gandhi, had set up Centre for Developments of Telematics and C-Dot in the early eighties, which proved a catalyst for the Telecommunication Revolution that we are witnessing today. Many prominent personalities are also the members of this commission. After months of brainstorming and research the commission recommended its suggestions to the government.
But there are some politicians in our country who accord their personal ego and interests above country’s welfare and progress. Many analysts feel that there are some ministers in this government who embody that description.
Human Resource Minister, Arjun Singh kept ignoring the recommendations of the commission for reasons best known to him only. But recently, the minister hesitatingly met the Knowledge Commission Chairman, Sam Pitroda for a few minutes and heard him out. It is speculated that the minister might have been asked to mend his ways and cooperate with the Commission.
Arjun Singh was not impressed by the recommendatation of the commission and deliberately chose to ignore the suggestions of the commission until the Prime Minister himself took up the matter and declared the road map that his government intended to follow in accordance with the recommendations. Prime Minister had announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort that very soon every state would have a central university and the number of premier engineering and management institutes would be increased. He also said that in order to impart technical training at the grassroot level, thousands of technical institutes would be opened and the private sector will also be encouraged to participate.
But the fact is that there is a shortage of technical professionals and the situation will continue to look grim unless some drastic measures are implemented speedily. Manpower has become an asset for India and this will play a greater role in the future as the world population is ageing whereas the youth constitute greater percentage of India’s population.
The world has become a global village now and if India is not able to match its pace with the rest of the world, then, very soon it will be another story of opportunity missed.
Arjun Singh does not seem to care a bit and is not willing to act unless it results in some kind of a political dividend for him.
It might sound amusing as he might himself not remember when he won any election last. In fact, in spite of being beaten in elections repeatedly, he became a minister only for his consistent loyalty to the Gandhi family. He should have realised his limitations and spent his energy in keeping his benefactors in good humour. Strangly, he became ambitious and started tinkering in everything like his predecessor, Murli Manohar Joshi used to do.
Whatever developmental strides India is making now is due to its ‘knowledge workforce’ and to gain the much aspired momentum, our education system needs to be drastically changed. But what would be the result if the minister himself starts obstructing all such initiatives on the ground that any such move would not yield any political dividends for him? The Prime Minister should act firmly now otherwise there are many politicians who can’t foresee beyond personal interests. They must be made to realise and mend their follies in the larger interest of the public they are elected to serve.
October 20th, 2007
The following is from http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=660.
Business India B-school Ranking 2007
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Indian School of Business
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SP Jain Inst. of Management
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Faculty of Management Studies
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International Management Institute
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Jamnalal Bajaj Inst. of Management
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Xavier Institute of Management
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Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
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Source: Business India, October 21, 2007
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October 20th, 2007
Following are excerpts from an IBN live report. (video)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the HRD ministry to put at abeyance all decisions regarding location of eight IITs and seven IIMs till a formal mechanism is evolved. In an explicit direction to the HRD ministry, the PMO wants locations of these top institutes be put on hold till the 11th Plan is finalised. National Development Council will meet on the December 9 this year to put its stamp of approval on the plan of the expansion planned. The HRD ministry has already circulated a bill to establish 16 central universities and location of four IITs and one IIM have been fixed.
October 20th, 2007
The following is from a report in Hindustan Times.
The government has chosen hybrid model of Indian and American universities for the 16 new Central Universities to be opened in the next five years.
The administrative model would be similar to Jawaharlal Nehru University, whereas the academic model is inspired by American universities. In a comprehensive project report submitted to the HRD ministry, Educational Consultants India Limited (EDCIL) has said that each university should teach at least 10,000 students.
Of these, 80 per cent of the students will get residential facilities. The report was prepared after deputy chairperson of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, proposed expansion and reforms in higher education to PM Manmohan Singh earlier this year.
Taking the suggestions into account, the EDCIL has proposed that the new Central universities will have six-year integrated courses with two-year post-graduate course and four-year doctoral programme, a mark difference from the present practice in Indian universities. The requisite of MPhil, after two years of post-graduation, for doctoral course has been abolished in the structure for the new universities.
“The concept is similar to the one in American institutions where the stress is more on research,” said Chairman and Managing Director of EDCIL Anju Banerjee. In addition to conventional, arts, social sciences, science and engineering courses, the new universities will also offer professional courses in architecture and fashion, nano-technology, bio-informatics, paramedics and information technology. However, medical colleges have not been proposed to be part of these universities.
Banerjee also said that they have also provided an option of mobility of students from one stream to another. The new universities would have semester system of education, continuous evaluation and assessment and a common admission system. “We have already circulated a Cabinet note for a uniform law for all these 16 universities,” a HRD ministry official said.
Taking a cue from American universities, the concept of schools has been recommended, like School of Engineering and School of Science. Each school would be headed by a Board of Studies to provide autonomy to each section within the federal structure of the university.
However, the overall administrative structure is similar to the JNU model with the new universities not being affiliating. The 150-page report being given final touches by HRD ministry also proposes a lower student teacher ratio of the international level to improve quality of education.
However, University Grants Commission scales have been proposed for the faculty.
October 19th, 2007
